Age:84-85
(1) He is married to Zandra ? (GORDON).
They got married
Child(ren):
(2) He is married to Lilia C KEMP (GORDON).
They got married December 1932 at St George, Hanover Square Vol 1A, P 984, he was 35 years old.
Colinette Gordon Compton
Memories of Childhood at Netherstowe House
My parents, «b»Colin«/b» and Zandra Gordon, rented Netherstowe House from the years 1937to 1941.
Yesterday, out of the blue, I looked up "Netherstowe House, Lichfield" on the Internet. The first web site showed an imposing Georgian house.
Immediately I felt I was back in the year 1937. My first, happy memory of life is at two and a half years old, tucked up in a small, low bed in my "night nursery" on the top floor of Netherstowe House. Through the closed door I could hear music playing softly on the gramophone as I drifted off into sleep.
Every morning I woke up early, eager to start a great new day, lookedafter primarily by my adoring nursemaid, Daisy Nichols, nicknamed "Nana".
During the first year and a half that we lived at Netherstowe my father was working in Nigeria, seconded from the South Staffordshire Regiment to the R.W.A.A.F. My mother accompanied him, so Nana was like a mother to me. She was a very old fashioned nursemaid. She used to boast that she had never seen the inside of a kitchen, and demanded that one of the kitchen maids deliver the trays for the "Nursery meals" up the servants' stairs, and remove them when she rang the bell.
Whenever Nana had her half day off once a week I was allowed to go down the stairs and visit in the spacious kitchen, where the cook would show me how to roll pastry, and we would have tea and homemade scones with the gardeners, sitting around a huge wooden table, listening to Worker's Playtime on the wireless (radio) at Noon. They let me slide down the banisters in the main part of the house, which was a real treat.
I remember very vividly Nana pushing me in a large black pram along the country road near Netherstowe. She would sing "Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your AnswerDo," to make me laugh. In the evenings after I went to bed Nana sat in the "day nursery" next door, sewing, or ironing my dresses, and she would always play music on the gramophone. Nana loved NoelCoward's songs, so I learnt the words to many adult songs early in life, such as "I'll See You Again".
From the age of three years old I was allowed to wander around the spacious gardens and countryside surrounding Netherstowe House, by myself, or with my stepbrother Peter, who was eight years older than me, when he was home from boarding school. Soon after we arrived at Netherstowe Peter saw something floating down the stream that ran through the garden, and on close inspection he saw it was a large sack, with the head of a tiny black kitten poking out of the top, theonly survivor of a family of five kittens and a mother cat. Peter named the cat "Tattibogles" (scarecrow) but he was known as "Puss Cat". He was my constant companion, and never complained when I dressed him in my doll's clothes. He enjoyed going for rides in my doll's pram. On Christmas Day in 1940 I was given a child's size nurse's uniform to dress up in. From that day I saw myself as a nurse, and Puss seemed to enjoy being my patient, with his leg wrapped in bandages.
During the entire time we lived at Netherstowe, life for me was perfect in every way. Wendy, the daughter of a Royal Navy officer and his wife, lived next door. At least once a week my best friend Chad Coussmaker, whose father was a Church of England minister, and Tim Street, whose father wasan Army officer, would come to play in the very large garden at Netherstowe, where I had a playhouse made of wood., and I would host "tea parties" We would make sure that we were always at the edge of the railway tracks just after Noon to wave to the engine driver of the "Royal Scot" train one of the highlights of our day when he waved back to us.
My parents returned to live with us in Netherstowe House in 1939, when my father was ordered to supervise the training of new recruits in the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment at Whittington Barracks in Lichfield. At that time he was a Major. He had a faithful, young Army "Batman" who was wonderful, and taught me to ride a bicycle. (Sadly I do not know how to spell his name, but it sounded like "May-chen".)
My father was seldom home, and my mother kept busy with Red Cross and Mother's Union volunteer work. During the day time I only saw my mother occasionally, when she called Nana and I to go in the garden to learn about planting flowers, or to cut the grass, sometimes in the afternoons. At five o'clock every evening I would be bathed and dressed by Nanny, and I wastaken to visit my mother in the spacious drawing room (lounge) and we would listen to "Children's Hour" on the radio. My favourite part was "Said The Cat To The Dog." Then I would return to the Nursery, and be in bed by 7:00 PM. My mother changed into a long dress every evening, and would come to the nursery to hear my prayers and say goodnight, before returning downstairs for dinner.
In early September 1939 I remember Nanny taking two days off to visit her parents in Reading, Berkshire. My parents had to look after me in the evenings, which was very unusual. I missed Nana very much, so as a special treat one evening I was allowed to take a bath in the large bath in the bathroom near their bedrooms. I remember how white everything in that room was, except for the black and white tiled floor. Then we all sat downstairs in the lounge, and snuggled up on the couch. Although half asleep, I remember hearing a news report a recording of Neville Chamberlainannouncing on the radio that the country was at war with Germany. Early the next morning I crept into my mother's bedroom and sat on the floor at the bottom of the bed wrapped in an eiderdown, pretending I was the news announcer Alvar Lidell, and repeating the Prime Minister's speech over and over again. My parents were amazed that I had such a retentive memory at such a young age.
The Second World War did not affect me at all. We kept chickens and ducks at Netherstowe, and had a huge kitchen garden, so were never short of food. We were never afraid, and would go off into the countryside to play, with no problems. Chad and I walked to a preschool on our own, down country lanes. The little school was owned by two spinster sisters, who were very strict, and I tried extremely hard to be a perfect student because Chad told me I was like his sister, and he was looking after me, so I HAD to behave.
One of the highlights of our life during those years living in Netherstowe was the very formal wedding of a daughter of the Bishop of Lichfield and his wife. Chad was a page, and I was a flower girl. I had been to the Cathedral many times,and was very happy to be "on show" briefly - sprinkling rose petals in front of the bride. Bishop Edward Sydney Woods and his wife often came to tea at Netherstowe, and I was allowed to attend the tea party for about five minutes, to perform a dance or sing one song. The elegant, imposing Bishop and his friendly wife loved me as if I was a grandchild, and Nana and I stayed at the Bishop's Palace on more than one occasion. The big treat was walking past shops in the city; an amazing change from country life.
My parents gave some glittering dinner parties at Netherstowe, and young officers were invited when they first came to Whittington Barracks. One invitation was sent out by my father, with the caption "to meet my eldest unmarried daughter." I can imagine the young men were NOT happy when a very outgoing five year old appeared at the top of the main stairs, and made an entrance into the dining room, but they treated me as if I was a princess, and I was overjoyed by the attention.
Because my parents had lived overseas for many years, when we moved to Netherstowe almost all the furniture, china and glass my parents amassed was bought at the famous Winterton Sale/Auction Rooms in Lichfield.
In 1940 my father was promoted to Lt. Col., and was put in charge of training A.T.S. In August 1941 it was necessaryfor us to move to an apartment in Whittington Barracks. I remember feeling very sad leaving our lovely Netherstowe House for the last time. Looking out of the back window of our large car, seeing the removal van arrive, and knowing that all the furniture would be going into storage, I knew it was the end of a happy chapter in the stories of all of our lives. Wendy moved about the same time, and Chad and family had moved away a few months earlier.
My friend Chad became a padre in the Church of England foreign service, and he is now a Canon. I trained as a nurse, specializing in paediatrics. Although Chad and I only ever met three times in our adult lives we have remained friends all these 70 years, writing annually to each other from whatever part of the world we lived. It is amazing to our friends that we remember that part of our childhood.
I never returned to visit Netherstowe House. Maybe one day I will have the opportunity. I like to think the spirits of Bobby and Puss Cat come out at full moon, playfully chasing each other across the grass. If there are any ghosts there, they are all happy ones.
Lieutenant Colonel C.V.T. Gordon
An obituary and short biography
Lieutenant Colonel «b»Colin Victor Thomas Gordon«/b» died on 18th April 1982 aged 85.Colin Gordon originatedfrom Glasgow and enlisted in the Scots Guards in 1914.He served in France in 1914-15 and in 1917, and was commissioned into the South Stafford's shortly before the end of the war.
After five years with the 1st Battalion in Singapore and Burma, he had a tour at the depot and in 1927 was second to the Royal West Africa Frontier Force, with which he served for most of the nextnine years in Sierra Leone and with the Nigeria Regiment.
At the outbreak of the war in 1939, he was again at the Depot where he stayed on with the Infantry Training Centre, commanding it in 1940-41. He later commanded the 9th Battalion and retired in 1946 to reside in Torquay, where for several years he was branch secretary of the Overseas League Club.
He was a staunch supporter of the Regimental Association, taking part in the visits to the Regiment at Luneburg in 1958 and Berlin in 1970, and attended the reunion in 1974. A few months later, he was in a serious road accident resulting in the loss of a leg. His strength of character brought him through a long convalescence and the ability to conquer the use of the artificial leg.
He spent his remaining years at the Officers Association Country Home at 'Huntly' Bishopsteignton in Devon, where he captivated the admiration of all the members for his sheer determination to come to grips with his disability.
He possessed an exquisite sense of humour and sharp rhetoric. His pre-war interest and active participation in amateur dramatics lefta lasting effect on his personality, so much so that at times you felt, with him, you were in the presence of an actor.
When my wife and I visited him late last year he still retained an enthusiastic interest in all aspects of the Regiment, and, despite his disability, insisted on showing us around Huntly and the beautiful garden.
His wife died during 1973 and he is survived by his daughter, now living in America, to whom we extend our sincere sympathy.
F.C.W.
Supplied by Whittington Barracks.
Joan Menzies (Nee Dee)
Memories of the«b» Gordon's «/b»and Donaldson's
My Grannie Dee lived first at the end of the drive leading to Netherstowe House, in Stychbrook Cottages. Grannie Dee worked at the house for the Donaldsons. She was their cook. They were lovely people, they had two children Peter and Wendy who we played with. I loved to go there because they had a big garden. I played a lot with Peter while Grannie Dee was working.
One day Peter showed me a cupboard, a bit like an airing cupboard,. He told me you could get to the Cathedral from this place. We didn't make the journey as he got stuck and I had to pull him out.
I remember the Donaldson's cousin came from Canada. He talked a lot about Canada, which I loved and always hoped to go there one day. My daughter Tracey moved there quite recently, so my wished cam true and I went to on holiday to visit them last year.
LtDonaldson's was in the Navy and they always had lots of people at the house. I think Peter and Wendy went to Miss Austin's School in Gaia Lane. I was told by my Grannie me that now I was ten it was time to earn some money, it was cleaning silver with Ruby the maid.
My Grannie worked for the«b» Gordons. «/b»She cleaned for them.«b» Mr Gordon«/b» was a major in the Army at Whittington Barracks. The«b» Gordons«/b» always had lots of people from the barracks at Netherstowe house. The daughter was Colinette and she went to Miss Austins School too.
Netherstowe House seemed very big to me and had lots of out-houses and a very large garden. I think the house was made into one because they made things for the war.
Colin Victor Thomas (Lt Col) GORDON | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zandra ? (GORDON) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(2) 1932 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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